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Based on the best-selling book series by highly-acclaimed author Stephen King. The last Gunslinger, Roland (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the epic battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.

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If you go into this movie expecting any type of serious adaption of the Dark Tower series previously written by King, you are bound to be very disappointed. I am going to go ahead and acknowledge that this film was incorrectly titled and marketed, so some of the criticism is deserved. If you've read the Dark Tower series a few times, then you are aware that the series is somewhat circular. That being the case, this film could have easily have been marketed as a sequel to the series - more like a second, third, fourth, or fifth telling of the Dark Tower saga. When viewed in this manner as a sequel and retelling of the saga of the gunslinger as he tries again and again, this film works very well. They could have started the movie with short scenes from the prior Dark Tower books and then moved into the chase where a new journey starts over. This has a definite King stamp to it, there are serious aspects of Kings Dark Tower series and his other accompanying - connected works throughout the movie (which is why I refer to it as Dark Tower Concentrate). It's a really interesting story that I wish would have gone on longer and have been fleshed out and developed more. I truly believe that if they would have marketed this as a sequel to the initial Dark Tower series, and called it something like "Dark Tower - The Second telling\ The Gunslinger's Doubt" then it would have been much better received by fans. Anyway, this is all hindsight and it was not marketed or done this way. I thought the acting, visuals, and storyline was great - but it is a sharp departure from the original Dark Towers series ...........which is still begging to be made.

A dark tower exists that protects the universe from a demonic apocalypse. The tower can be destroyed by the mind of a child. The Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) is locked in an eternal struggle with the Last Gunslinger (Idris Elba), as one tries to bring the tower down and the other tries to defend it. One child is caught in the middle of it all.

What did I think?

I immediately wanted to watch more of The Dark Tower when the credits rolled. Not because it was a stellar movie, but because I felt like there was SO much we didn’t see. Moviemakers saw fit to compress EIGHT Stephen King books into one movie, leaving the intriguing premise feeling rushed and under-explained. This needs to be a TV show so I can binge the crap out of it rather than a movie that piqued my interest but left me dissatisfied.

Just the worst. If you’re a lifelong fan of the novels, you will not enjoy this film. It’s not a sequel, an adaptation, or even a semblance of an engaging film. Even if I didn’t know the Mid World universe so well... I would not have enjoyed this shallow film. There wasn’t even enough time to develop emotions for the characters. They could have all died and I don’t think viewers would have cared one way or another.

I don’t typically get prissy about book-to-movie adaptations that don’t follow their sources faithfully. I think a different medium necessitates certain changes for a story to retain its impact.

Having said that... The Dark Tower movie is essentially an incomplete collection of character names, memorable phrases, and terminology from the novels, haphazardly thrown into a bag with a vfx budget. Realizing this in the first few scenes of the movie, forces you to view it as its own isolated entity or risk the aforementioned prissy disappointment. Unfortunately, as soon as you start watching it for its own merits, you quickly notice it doesn’t have many.

If you are looking for any of the images that the Stephen King series branded in your mind, go get a hot cup of electroshock. Yes, it is Roland and Jake vs the evil one for the fate of the universe. The acting is great, the movie itself is good to watch as an action flick. It is based on the work of Stephen King if you haven't read the novels. If you have, and let him create these worlds in your mind, you may be in for a large wtf! I think that Stephan King at his best creates a fabric in time and space that just can't be replicated in film. The mind movies you create reading win every time... I'm going to read all eight novels of the trilogy over, just for the brain flicks.

Idris Elba, and you could toss in the kid with the visions, were the only characters that felt like they gave a hoot when acting in the movie. I don't know how much of the movie is edited but, clearly some things missing big time. Jumps around, unsure why characters are who they are, the reason, non of that is given, just a quick one line of the history, lame. This could have been a beautiful, 3 hour long epic journey of a movie, and it felt like, rush, rush, oh hey a plot, rush, rush, character reveal, rush, rush, ok movie is over. I'm going with Ok rating, because I did like it, I guess because of Idris Elba and that kid he meets up with later. Sorry, I don't recall the actor's name who played that part.

Stories by Stephen King do not always translate well to the screen but this adaptation of The Dark Tower series is extremely well done. From the great cast including Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey to the even pacing of the script, this reboot is a joy to watch.

I don't understand the negative reviews, unless they stem for an affection for the novels. Understand that Stephen King intended this reboot to correct some plot holes and bring back the story to the forefront.

First, Idris Elba turns in a spectacular performance as Roland. That is pretty much the extent of greatness in this movie. The scenery and cinematography are creative excellence. However any expectations of a relationship to Stephen Kings superlative Dark Tower series is in name only. That's so disappointing given the wealth of imagery that exists in the Dark Tower books. Very disappointed.